The present invention is directed to a device for separating solids, particularly amalgam, from liquids in dental apparatus. The device includes a centrifuge which has a container that is driven by a motor and which centrifuge has an admission channel through which a liquid enriched with solids is introduced to the centrifuge so that the solids may be forced to a peripheral centrifuge wall of the container as a consequence of centrifugal forces and the liquid overflows the container and out through an outlet channel and which centrifuge has a collecting vessel in which the solids are collected and kept.
An apparatus for separating air and solid particles from liquid is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,035, whose disclosure is incorporated by reference and which claims priority from the same Swedish application as German AS 35 21 929.
A disadvantage in this known device is that, due to adhesion, particles of solids will adhere to an inside surface of the centrifuge. This adhesion is especially established given extremely small particles which are less than 0.5 mm and the adhesion continues to exist even when the centrifuge is brought to a standstill. A fast deceleration is provided in order to nonetheless transport these particles into a collecting vessel. However, practical tests have shown that the adhesion force predominates over the deceleration forces so that a great quantity of the small particles continue to remain in the centrifuge. Another problem with this known apparatus is that it is rather involved in structure.